My laptop is on the fritz. Again. While I run hot and cold on the topic of service contracts in general, I’ve come to accept that buying a factory extended warranty on a laptop makes good financial sense. I just wish I had signed up for the AppleCare extended warranty program for my iBook, way back when. This critter has lived one tough life. I’ve poured more into repairs than I’d care to say (but hey, I will anyway) …

The first time the iBook pooped out, it was covered under warranty. A board fizzled within the first year and was quickly remedied, free of charge.

Next up on the hit parade, the LCD screen went bad (shortly after the factory warranty ended). Well, it didn’t exactly go bad. It was stepped on. Yup. Stepped on. (Gotta love those kids.) I found a shop in the Pacific Northwest that replaced the screen for a fraction of what it would have cost at the factory. (While I’m not sure if a service contract would have covered that type of, er, damage, I kinda doubt it.)

The most frequently replaced part? Don’t ask me why I’m on my third power cord … okay, okay … I do know that the dogs chewed up the second one. But I can’t remember why the first one went south.

The keyboard is missing a key or two. But they’re not important keys … and hey, why else would they put two Shift keys on the keyboard? (While I’ve lived with the two keys short of a full deck malady for more than a few months, I have an inkling that the remedy will be found on eBay.)

Looking back, the service contract on my blurple Dell Latitude always served me well. Why I didn’t extend the warranty on the ivory wonder, I dunno. To be sure, this little beast isn’t a rugged laptop … it’s strictly a budget affair.

In retrospect, I know now that I cheaped out in the wrong place.

I’ve learned my lesson. Next time, I’ll budget a bit more for the factory service contract.

That having been said, sometimes it seems like you can’t get through the checkout line with anything more complicated than a pack of rechargeable NiMH batteries without the clerk asking if you want to purchase a service contract.

So tell me, kind Gnomies, why is it that so many third-party companies push those extended warranties? Is there a relationship between peace-of-mind and profit margins?

[tags]laptop service contract[/tags]